


The Guinevere Issue

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [67]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-04
Updated: 2012-06-04
Packaged: 2017-11-06 19:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/422494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“How would you like to get into an epic sword battle with Arthur and Lancelot for Guinevere?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Guinevere Issue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the Thicker than Water universe where the BAU are kids and teens.

“Jason, Jason!”

Ashley and Spencer were running into the kitchen at the same time hollering his name. He turned from the rotini he was boiling and held up his hands. No matter what they thought, talking at the same time wasn’t going to be something he would be able to understand much of. Ashley was breathing hard and looked as if she was about to hyperventilate. Spencer nearly lost his glasses and rushed to push them back on his face.

“One at a time.” Jason said.

“Well she doesn’t want…”

“He's trying to make me…”

“Hey, hey! One at a time guys, seriously. Ashley, you can go first.”

“But I…” Spencer went to interject.

“He said me!” Ashley exclaimed.

“Yes, I said Ashley can go first. When she’s done you will have your chance Spencer, I promise. Ashley you go first.”

“Spencer wants me to play Gwendovere and there's no fun in playing Gwendovere. She’s just a dumb girl who faints when all the trouble starts. I wanna be Lancelot.”

“Are you done?” Jason asked gently. He didn’t want to let Spencer go if she wasn’t. Being accused of playing favorites wasn’t on his list of things to do today.

“I'm done…for now.” she said.

“OK Spencer, you go now.”

“Firstly, it’s Guinevere and not Gwendovere.” He said knowing she wasn’t fond of being corrected. “Secondly, we’re playing King Arthur and someone has to be the princess. If you're Lancelot and I'm King Arthur than who will be Guinevere?”

“I don’t care.” Ashley said folding her arms. “We don’t have a real bad guy; he's imaginary. Gwendovere can be imaginary too.”

“Guinevere.” Spencer’s voice went up an octave. “It's Guinevere; her name is Guinevere!”

“Stop correcting me!”

“Both of you stop shouting right now.” Jason said in a tone where they knew he meant it. Both of the kids stopped talking. Ashley looked like she was about to blow her top. Spencer sighed heavily. “Compromise is what playing together is all about. Can either one of you think of a compromise?”

“Yeah, I get to be Lancelot.” Ashley replied. “Spencer and I can work together to rescue the princess and I won't have to faint or play dumb and swoony.”

“Do you think that’s a fair compromise, Spencer?”

“I'm not against Ashley being Lancelot but who will be Guinevere? We can't even play the game without her.”

Just then Emily walked into the kitchen. She was walking to the fridge but stopped when she felt three pairs of eyes on her. 

“What?” she asked.

“What are you doing at this exact moment?” Jason asked.

“Um, I'm going to get iced tea from the fridge.”

“What about after that?” 

“Nothing.” She shook her head.

“How would you feel about being Guinevere?”

“I don't know; it sounds like being Ophelia to me.”

“Who's Ophelia?” Ashley asked. “Spencer, you only said there was one girl in this game.”

“It’s a different story, Ashley.” Jason said. “Well Emily, how do you feel?”

“You’re going to have to give me more information.”

“King Arthur and Sir Lancelot need to rescue Guinevere.” Spencer said. “We don’t have a Guinevere.”

“What do I have to do?” Emily asked.

They wanted her to go sit outside under the tree so they could come and rescue her from the bad guys.

“We’re gonna sword battle for you.” Ashley said grinning.

“I'm down.” Emily replied. She was actually tired, had worked her two jobs for three days straight. But honestly if all she had to do was sit under a tree she wasn’t going to disappoint the kids. It looked as if they really wanted to play.

“Problem solved.” Jason smiled.

“Thanks Gideon.” Spencer smiled too.

“I gotta go and get my sword.” Ashley rushed out of the room.

Spencer rushed out behind her; he had to do the same. Jason went back to his rotini and was glad that it hadn't overcooked. Emily grabbed the colander for him as she put the iced tea back in the fridge.

“What did I miss?” she asked.

“Ashley was refusing to be Guinevere because she thinks she’s boring and just gets kidnapped and swoons.”

“I can understand her reasoning.”

“But Spencer insisted they needed someone to rescue if the game was going to make any sense. It has to make sense to him or it’s not worth playing.”

“I thought we were getting better with the imagination thing with Spencer.” Emily said.

“We are. He told me the other day that he wants to learn to play Quidditch. I thought that was great. Thanks for playing with them.”

“It always makes my day.”

“I know for a fact that your day was supposed to be lazy.” Jason said.

“Well I get to play with the kids and sit under a shady tree drinking iced tea while I do it. My mother would call that a win-win in diplomacy.”

“Would she really?” he asked.

“Would she really what?”

“Call it a win-win in diplomacy? You don’t say much about your mother. I don’t know if she would or wouldn’t.”

“She would.” Emily nodded. “My mother was all about win-win situations.”

“Maybe you should talk about her more.” Jason said.

“Maybe.”

Derek came in and saved Emily from having to say anything more. There was this part of her that did want to talk about her family and her feelings concerning it. Most of the time the words were hardly there. Emily struggled with enough. She didn’t have the energy to struggle with that too. Some day she would but it wasn’t today. Today was about the family she did have.

“What are you cooking?” he asked, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

“I'm making seafood salad.” Jason said. “I'm gonna put some sausages on the stove too. I think everyone would like that.”

“I’ll like it.” Derek nodded.

“Are you busy, Morgan?” Emily asked.

“You're saying that in a voice that wants to make me say yes.”

Ashley and Spencer were back with their swords. They had a jump rope they wanted Emily to tie around herself so the kidnapping could look authentic. She agreed to it. Then she turned back to Morgan.

“How would you like to get into an epic sword battle with Arthur and Lancelot for Guinevere?” she asked.

He could think of five thousand things he’d rather do than that. But this was Morgan’s three days off. He wasn’t mowing lawns or working to the Boys and Girls Club. He was enjoying summer for every ounce of sunshine it was worth. 

He was hanging with his girlfriend, going to the pool, watching baseball games and spouting player stats with his big brothers. Apparently he was also making believe he was the bad guy for his younger siblings. The work of the nearly middle child was never done. Derek put his water bottle on the counter and folded his arms. Then he took a long, hard look at Spencer and Ashley.

“If I'm the bad guy, I've got to have better hardware than you guys.” He said.

“You can take my light saber.” Spencer handed it to him. “I’ll use the cardboard sword.”

“Now this is what I'm talking about.” Morgan smiled. “Who do I get to kidnap?”

“Are you really gonna play with us, Derek?” Ashley asked.

“Someone needs to show you munchkins how it’s done, right?”

“C'mon, my cardboard sword is on the back porch.” Spencer and Ashley rushed outside with Derek and Emily right behind them. 

Jason went back to cooking dinner. He knew they’d get the kids nice and tired and dirty. Then there would be dinner, a little TV, bath, a story, and they’d sleep soundly tonight. Those two kids had more energy than Jason ever saw. There were days when they made him feel 59 instead of 19. 

Still, it was since Ashley came to live with them that he'd seen Spencer come alive. He wasn’t just reading or learning all the time. Now he was playing, imagining, and enjoying sunshine. It was a good change for everyone. 

Ashley had been a great addition to the family. As he stopped cooking for a few minutes to watch them play, Jason was sure of it. Morgan was going to give the kids a run for their money. They would enjoy every minute of it. Jason would do the same.

***


End file.
